"The X Files" Underneath (2002)

Director:

John Shiban

Writers:

Chris Carter (creator)
John Shiban (written by)

TV Series:

"The X Files" (1993)

Original Air Date:

31 March 2002 (Season 9, Episode 12)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

After thirteen years in prison, a man named Fassl is released and cleared of murder charges when DNA evidence proves he had nothing to do with the murder of an entire family though he was present on the scene. Doggett, who made the arrest, refuses to accept Fassl's innocence and pursues the case again. |

Plot Keywords:

FBI | FBI Agent | Alien | X Files | Conspiracy

Cast

Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
Robert Patrick	...	John Doggett
Annabeth Gish	...	Monica Reyes
W. Earl Brown	...	Robert M. Fassl
Lisa Darr	...	Attorney Jana Fain
Alan Davidson	...	Bearded Man
Robert Curtis Brown	...	Assistant D.A. Damon Kaylor
Paul Vincent O'Connor	...	Warden Brian Hutchinson
Arthur J. Nascarella	...	Duke Tomasick (as Arthur Nascarella)
Kelly McNair	...	Teenage Girl
Carol Kiernan	...	Mom
Michael Patterson	...	Dad
Mary Margaret Lewis	...	Mrs. Dowdy (as Mary-Margaret Lewis)
Rick Garcia	...	Reporter #1
Pamela Kay Davis	...	Reporter #2

Runtime:

Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Argentina:13

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: After Assistant D.A. Damon Kaylor is murdered, Fassl kneels down over the body. As the camera pulls up above the scene, you can see the base of the camera hoist roll into view from the left.

Quotes:

Duke Tomasick: I'm sorry, John.
John Doggett: You framed Fassl.
Duke Tomasick: You saw how it was going down. We arrested him at the scene, but he left no prints, no hair, no fibre. Nothing to actually tie him to the murders.
John Doggett: How did you do it?
Duke Tomasick: It took a... part of a hair sample that was found at a previous murder and I put it in with the evidence from our crime scene. Johnny... it was the one and only time I ever did anything like that. I was scared Fassl would walk. I couldn't let that happen. Not when I knew that... I knew he was guilty. Guilty. God almighty.
[...]

How the h*** to you does that make sense?

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This season 9 episode has a special place in my heart. It contains about 3 minutes of Reyes dialogue which is the very dialogue that made me first decide that I couldn't stand this character. If not for that I would actually probably enjoy the episode. It deals with a sort of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde serial killer who spends his normal life being a pent up devout Catholic unable to confront his sins and because of this apparently according to Reyes he has not only developed an alternate personality (believable) but since Catholics believe in transubstantiation, that must mean that the guy's DNA actually changes when he takes on that personality too! That's the only thing that makes sense! OK I'll just sum it up with some ad libbed and actual lines from the transcript.

Reyes and Scully are interrogating Bob about the killer in the picture. They notice that Bob appears to recognize the man and is in fact afraid of him. Because of this Scully asks some of the most obviously leading questions I've ever heard.

SCULLY: This man. Is it that he won't leave you alone, Bob? Is it that you just want him to go away? Tell us about him. Tell us so we can help make him go away

Leading the witness much? (I know that is just in a court room, just enjoy the sarcasm and get on with your life.)

Anyway so Dogget is understandably perplexed but what the crud is going on in this interrogation and asks, "What the hell was that?" Reyes replies, "I don't know about you but that was me changing my theory." OK are you ready for this? This is the WORST WRITTEN X-FILES THEORY PRESENTATION EVER!

DOGGETT: What, no more ghosts? REYES: Nope. Just Fassl. What if a man of profound faith, a devout Catholic, was incapable of contrition? SCULLY: As in he couldn't admit his own sins? REYES: Or even that he had a sinful side to him, as we all do. What if he were so frightened by it that he couldn't even admit it to himself. Might not someone like that manifest a second personality? DOGGETT: But it wouldn't explain the DNA evidence. REYES: It would if he physically became that other personality. DOGGETT: So what, we've moved on from Casper the Friendly Ghost to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? REYES: There is a precedent in the Catholic Canon itself. Transubstantiation. The manipulation of matter and energy. SCULLY: You mean water into wine? REYES: Or the Communion wafer into the body of Christ.

OK so stepping back for a second, yes it is true. Reyes has truly just gone through the following thought process: 1) Man is catholic, 2) Man is scared of other man with similar DNA, 3) Man must have problems with contrition, 4) Man must have second personality that is a serial killer, 5) Man is still Catholic, 6) Catholics believe in sacrament turning into the body of Christ, 7) Man must be turning into the body of Christ and killing people with it.

And then the clincher:

DOGGETT: Well Monica, I've slept through my share of Sunday Schools, but I never heard the story about the guy becoming another guy. REYES: It's the one explanation that makes sense. It explains what happened thirteen years ago, and it explains what's happening now.

WHAT THE CRAP ARE YOU SMOKING REYES! The only thing that somewhat redeems this episode is the following segment later as Doggett and Reyes are in the car staking out Bob's house:

DOGGETT: I'll sleep once we make sure this guy, Fassl, never kills again. Fassl or this... Charlie Manson sidekick. REYES: They're one and the same person. DOGGETT: Monica, I don't want to hear... REYES: But I just need to hear another theory that makes sense. DOGGETT: That theory doesn't make any sense. How the hell to you does that make sense?

EXACTLY! How the crap does a person who makes up crazy theories like this get a job as a detective let alone as an FBI agent? Ugh! Watching this just makes me want to grab Reyes by the ears and scream in her face that she is absolutely INSANE! If it wasn't for this I would have enjoyed the episode at the level of probably a 7 or 8 but this just weighs it down like everything else Reyes touches. 5 out of 10.